Google launches AI agent within Search ads in India, expands Gemini-powered ad tools

Google on Thursday, July 9, launched a range of new agentic advertising tools and Gemini-powered solutions, including YouTube BrandStack developed locally in India, as the tech giant looks to automate more of the ad creation and ad campaign management processes.

Among the new offerings is ‘Business Agent for Leads’, a new Google Search ad format that embeds a Gemini-powered AI agent in the ad, allowing users to chat with the agent and ask questions without leaving the search page. Trained on the advertiser’s website, the AI agent is designed to convert user interactions into qualified leads. Google said the feature has been rolled out in beta in India. Indian edtech platform Upgrad was given early access to the feature to engage prospective students.

Google also unveiled ‘Ask Advisor’, a Gemini-powered AI agent that delivers personalised recommendations to marketers on how to reach their business goals by gathering insights across the company’s products such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Marketing Platform, and soon Merchant Center.

The announcement comes as AI rapidly reshapes the digital ad industry. Google and Meta, two of the most dominant players, have used AI to power advertising for years, with the focus now moving beyond chatbots to autonomous AI agents.

In April 2026, Google reported an advertising revenue of $77.25 billion for Q1 2026, up 15.5 per cent year-over-year, while YouTube reported $9.88 billion ad revenue for the quarter. Ads, which account for about three-quarters of Google’s revenue, is what allows the big tech company to spend close to $200 billion on AI infrastructure.

“Gemini is now the engine accelerating growth for our customers across our ads products as we move beyond marketing automation to marketing intelligence, setting the stage for the agentic era where AI acts as a true strategic growth partner,” said Roma Datta Chobey, Managing Director, Connected Consumer Commerce, Google India.

Google’s new Business Agent for Leads. (Screenshot: Google)

AI-driven search also continues to influence user behaviour. According to Google, user queries on AI Mode are three times longer than traditional search queries. In India, 84 per cent of users reported making faster decisions and 87 per cent make more confident decisions using AI Mode.

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While the digital ad model for these emerging interfaces is still evolving, Google said that Gemini reduces irrelevant ads by 40 per cent. “With agents coming, user queries are longer and deeper. Brands have a lot more opportunity to match these queries by leveraging AI,” Chobey said.

The company also said it is working with Indian e-commerce firms such as Walmart-backed Flipkart to bring its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to India. Launched in January this year, UCP is an open standard that can essentially be used to set up a common language for AI agents and online shopping systems.

Do AI ads threaten the creator economy?

Google on Thursday said it has upgraded Asset Studio, its platform for merchants and advertisers to create AI-generated ad assets. Now, users can generate brand-accurate ad assets through natural language descriptions. They also have the option of importing marketing briefs, reference images, and brand guidelines to further customise the AI-generated text, image, or video ads.

In YouTube, Google has launched a new ad format called YouTube Affiliate Partnerships Boost that lets brands more easily incorporate authentic creator content on their products into their marketing campaigns.

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Google’s new Ask Advisor agent. (Image: Google)

The rise of AI-generated ad assets has also raised concerns about its impact on the creator economy, which is heavily dependent on brand collaboration. Asked about the role of creators in an increasingly AI-powered ad ecosystem, the company said, “Both have equal and important roles to play because it is ultimately all about consumer resonance; authentic storytelling that connects with audiences remains irreplaceable for building brand trust.”

Other announcements

-YouTube BrandStack: It is an all-in-one automated solution conceptualised and built in India that unifies campaign planning, buying, and measurement. Axis Max Life Insurance was the first to deploy it alongside YouTube Connected TV during the cricket season. The company saw an 18.4 per cent surge in brand searches and captured 23 per cent more quality leads, outperforming traditional TV markets.

YouTube also delivers 1.9 times more return on investment of total media compared to traditional OTT platforms and linear TV.

AI Max for Shopping: It leverages Merchant Center feed context to deeply understand products and enhance campaign impact. AI Max for Search Campaigns is currently the fastest-growing AI-powered Search Ads product, according to Google.

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AI Brief: It is Gemini-powered feature that helps advertisers improve their ad campaigns by interpreting the nuance in their marketing briefs, refers to the brand guardrails, and shows real-time ad previews that can be tweaked until it’s aligned with the brand’s vision.

Dynamic Remarketing: It builds on Retention Only Mode in Performance Max and is designed to automatically re-engage high-value lapsed or loyal customers with tailored creative.

Google’s upgraded Asset Studio allows advertisers to upload their own material. (Screenshot: Google)

Demand Gen: The feature has now been expanded to Google Maps, allowing advertisers to reach potential customers based on their location during key moments of discovery, such as when they are near or entering a store. Advertisers also have the option to integrate Merchant Center product videos directly into Demand Gen campaigns to help them bring their products to life at scale.

Meridian: It is Google’s open-source Marketing Mix Model that has now been integrated directly into Google Analytics 360 to help businesses globally analyse cross-channel and first-party data in one place. Alongside this, a new metric Attributed Branded Searches is being launched to help advertisers measure how YouTube video ad exposure directly drives downstream branded searches.

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Merchant Center Tools: Google announced two updates to help merchants enhance their visibility and track how their products appear across Google’s AI surfaces. The new AI performance insights tool in Merchant Center helps brands see exactly how their products are performing across Google’s AI surfaces (AI Mode, AI Overviews and the Gemini app). It is rolling out in the coming months.

Google is further providing global conversational attributes to help advertisers to add richer details to their product listings.